Carburetor rebuilt [John]

The Carter carburetor is back from Rick. Looks like brand new. We'll install it Saturday.

Cleaned and rebuilt carburetor

Stale Gas [Phil]

I've been asked:
"Phil, how CAN you tell if gasoline is old and needs to be discarded and replaced with fresh?"

The answer is simple, really. First, you crawl under the gas tank and remove the drain plug. Then, if the stuff running down your arm into your armpit and collecting on the back of your shirt
1) Is brown,
2) Is cloudy,
3) Stinks
Then you're dealing with stale gas.

But, if it's golden, clear, smells good, and you want to drink it, it's fresh.

Will it run? [John]

We spent much of Saturday trying to get the DeSoto to start. It cranks well on its charged 6V battery and even better with a 12V jump. Fires and runs on gas splashed into the carb. We drained the tank and put in some fresh gas, then flushed the fuel line, pump, and filter. Removed the top of the carburetor and found the float bowl dry and dirty. Accelerator pump plunger was trashed, but we found a new one at a local carb repair shop, Rick's. We installed the new plunger but found that crud in the carb was blocking some internal passages. Took the complete carb to the expert, who inspected it and said we did the right thing to bring it to him, because we had no more chance "than a horse in church" to start the engine as it was. It will take a couple days for him to overhaul the carburetor.

Leather wiper completely perished; stretched distorted spring seal has fallen away

New plunger has fresh leather and a neat, tight spring inside to aid the seal. The slot is slightly longer.  OK?

On uniform advice from several old car experts we visited, we pulled the plugs to pour in a little Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder. It's recommended for your tank, for your oil, and I think you can brush your teeth with it. Compression ranges from 60 to 80 pounds, pre-treatment, and all cylinders hold the pressure, so we think no valves are leaking. The car should be running by next weekend unless something else is wrong. Not likely. 

Magic? Mysterious at least.

Our carb guy, Rick, says do NOT put a 4-barrel carb on this engine. All it will do is give you a little more oomph on a freeway on ramp. Leave the 2-barrel in place. Convert to 12V? It's a major headache: all the 6V stuff won't work any more except the starter. If the electricals are too weak for you, you can still get 8V batteries. Put one of those in, and the lights, heater, wipers, generator even, should all be fine. For the radio, you want a Vol-ta-drop. I found this interesting thread: vol-ta-drops-are-history.html, which contains bad news, but apparently H.A.M.B. has some alternatives. Anyway, maybe we don't need to convert. Winters aren't very cold in San Diego county.

I think he's right about the power upgrade. This isn't a dragster. But then, we haven't driven it yet.

Jan (Mrs Phil) stopped by to take a photo of other people working. Well, hobbying then.

Phil, John, and Andy concentrating hard, totally focused.

Some interesting links [John]

A restoration and construction project on a similar DeSoto.  Became a very nice hot rod. DT Hotrods has done some very nice work.
http://www.dthotrods.com/desoto.html

National DeSoto Club: http://www.desoto.org/home

Walter P. Chrysler Club: http://www.chryslerclub.org/

The Hokey Ass Message Board hosts discussions related to fixing up old cars: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/

 Hot Heads has a good selection of parts for MOPARS: http://www.hothemiheads.com/

Very cool restoration and light modification of a car very similar to (but one year newer than) ours: http://www.allpar.com/cotm/2009/desoto.html

Here's another fixed up '54: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyintryin/8037899921/in/pool-desoto

An expired ad for a similar, but six-cylinder, Desoto wagon: http://www.my-classic-car-trader.com/car_ads/product_desc.php?id=101

And one of my favorites, Jonathan Ward's Icon Derelict DeSoto, reviewed and driven by Jay Leno on the Jay Leno's Garage web site. This video is also on YouTube: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/cars/custom-built/icon-derelict/index.shtml#item=256696

Initial post [John]

January 25, 2013

Picked up the car from the seller in Orange county. Made it home with only two glitches, not counting an unusual, rainy day. Some difficulty with persuading the seller's bank to accept a credit union cashier's check, and AAA will not provide free towing for a car the member just purchased. But the car arrived and is now in our garage.

First thing to do is to start it. Won't crank, so we hooked up a 6V battery charger while we went shopping for a replacement gas cap. After a couple hours on the charger, there's a slight click with key turned to the start position, some dash lights, but no other action. Verified that the engine was not frozen or seized by turning the fan. Tried a 12V boost from another car, and saw no difference in cranking, but noted that the cables got hot. Hmmm. Checking.... This car has positive ground! Tried again, battery to battery this time, and got some cranking but no fire. Splash a little gas in the carb and it fires. Try again, and it backfires and ignites the spilled gas around the carb. Got the fire out and soon learned that 1) it cranks much better with a 12V boost, and 2) it will fire and try to run on direct gas to the carb but stops after a few seconds. Sounds like stale gas or fuel pump problem. Smells like old gas, and the pump checked out fine. Drained the gas tank of a couple gallons of nasty, brown gasoline, and quit for the day. Tomorrow we'll get some fresh gas and try again. We think it's going to run.

To my ear, it cranks like there is low compression on one cylinder. We'll sort that out later.

January 24, 2013

Flying back from DC today, I flipped through some of the 150 photos the seller has kindly provided, compared them with my observations a week ago, and made a list of things to do to the car. For an old car in such apparently good shape, there are a lot of them. It became clear that Phil and I will need to identify a goal or objective: concours-quality restoration? fast hot rod? clean and neat original with some improvements? It weighs 3995 pounds and has a 276 ci, one-bbl hemi with 8:1 compression; 160 HP when new. So some of these options involve major engine work. Here's the list, for the curious.

Possible Improvements

• side mirrors
• air cleaner
• wiper arms and blades. Motor and linkage?
• tune up 
• gas cap
• front carpet or floor mat
• side moldings
• detail dash
• detail interior
• dash pad
• repair windshield frame rust
• repair door rust
• fix hood hinges and hood fit
• (maybe) repaint
• tailgate logo
• fix tailgate rust; chrome or refinish hinges
• replace window rubber
• replace gas filler rubber
• replace weatherstripping
• detail or repair spare tire well as needed
• fix horn if needed
• replace rear license bracket
• front plate bracket
• research correct color CA plates and get personalized plates to match
• clean paint off rear window frame
• get all lights to work
• rear bumper brackets
• fix heater (might need core)
• repair radio or new radio
• deal with driver side armrest
• clean up engine bay wiring
• fix cowl bent; replace gasket
• replace visor

Options

• swap tires, maybe wheels,
• improve stance
• new shocks
• new upholstery, or new seats
• seat belts
• repair and chrome rear bumper
• refinish or replace steering column
• 12V conversion 
• hop-up existing engine
• manifold and carb
• cam
• distributor and ignition
• swap engine 
• later, larger hemi with torqueflight
• modern 5.7 or 6.1 hemi with trans
• 3.5 Ford Ecoboost with trans
• Diesel and trans from a Sprinter
• other MOPAR (318, 340, 383)

January 20, 2013

Drove to Orange County to view the car. Barbara and I liked it enough to negotiate a price with the seller and we gave him a down payment. Phil wants in for half, so it will be a collaboration.

Here are some seller photos and a few I took of items that need attention.

Front

Rear

Right

Door rust

Cowl rust

Tailgate rust

Flaking chrome

Sticky cowl vent

Engine bay